moetof



' a SheetsQShet. 2. A; MORTON.

' -(Nd Model.)

GRATE.

1101382320.. Pa t nted May 1 5-,-1-888.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

ABNER o. MORTON, OFoHroAeO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH To SAMUELe. MORTON, or SAME PLACE.

'GRALTE.

SPECIPICA'I'ION forming part of Letters Patent No.382.'72 0. dated. May15, 1888.

Application filed October 19, 1886. Serial No; 216,634. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concernh p Be it known that I, ABNER O. MORTON, acitizen of the United States, residing in Ohicago, county of Cook, andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGrates, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in grates especially adapted forcooking and heating stoves, but which is also adapted for furnaces ofvarious kinds, and which grates have heretofore been made in a singlepiece and recipro'cated to shake out the ashes and oscillated to dumpboth the coal and ashes, while I 5 in others the grate has been made insections with a series of rigidly-connected, grate-bars in each section,and reciprocated to shake out the ashes, and the section oscillated inopposite directions for a like purpose or to dump both coal and ashes.

In the construction of grates above referred to the shaking operation isnot onlylaboriousand disagreeably noisy, but frequently unsuc c'essful,because of coal and clinkers clogging the space between the grate-barsto such an extent as not only'to be difficult of removal, buteffectually prevent the discharge of the ashes without resorting to thedumping operation, and consequently putting out the fire.

Besides the objections above set forth,a flaw in or injury to anyone ofthe grate-bars destroys the entire grate or entire section as acommercial article,,or renders the grate or section unfit for furtherservice, as the case may 3 5 be.

The objects of this invention are not only to avoid the objections'abovenamed, but to promote an effective discharge of the ashes from A furtherobject is to have the several parts of the grate separately cast andreadily attachable or detachable, so as to reduce the cost of castingand expense of repairs, and substituthe grate-bars and to provide notonly for tion of parts for repairs, and for varying the operation ofshakingthe several grate-bars, all as hereinafter described, and shownin the accompanying drawings, in which-..

Figure 1 represents'a plan view of a gratebar embodying, my invention;Fig. 2, a central longitudinal section thereof, showing the centralrock-bar in elevation; Fig. 3, a trans- I verse vertical section-of thesame; Fig. .4, a detail longitudinal section showing the rockbar slidback in position for dumpingthe grate; Fig. 5, a transverse section ofthe firebox, showing the gratepartially dumped in end elevation; Figs.6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, detail views of modified forms of the rock orshake bar; Fig. 12, a detail section through the grate-frame on line a:m, Fig. 2; and Fig. 13 a similar view on line 3 Fig. 4. 5

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in theseveralfigures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates thefire-box of a stove, provided with the usual lining of fire-brick, inwhich is located'the grate composed of theend bars, B G,'extendingtransversely across 752 t the fire-box at the en'ds'thereof, andconnected by the longitudinal side bars, DD, which are i preferable eastseparate from said end bars, to which they are secured by mortising orin any other well-known and convenient manner to render them easilydetachable. In these bars are formed a series of perforations, E,extending nearly the entire length thereof and at regular distancesapart, through which perforations project lugs FF, depending from the 85 under side of the grate-bars G, one near each end of each barprojecting through the perfo rations of each side bar a sufficientdistance to permit a considerable vertical play of thegrate-bars'without the lugs becoming disen-;9c gaged from theperforations. To one side thecenter of each bar has cast therewith orother wise rigidly secured thereto a weight or thick-, ened' portion, H,and the bars are so arranged in the grate that the weighted ends of thegrate- 9 5 bars come upon alternate sides of the grate that is to say,every other bar has its weighted end upon'the same side. a Passingcentrally and, longitudinally from,

end to end of the stove beneath the gratebarsf we I g g is a rock orshake bar, I, preferably having" the shape of a parallelogram incross-section and provided with an end bearing in the end bar 0 of thegrate, which latter in turn 5 has a stud, J, cast thereon, constitutinga pivot hearing, it being loosely journaled in a suitable socket formedin the end wall of the stove, the end bearing of the rock-bar, however,being sufficiently long to permit an endwise movement of the said barindependent of the end bar and without becoming disengaged therefrom.The opposite end of the shakebar beyond the grate-bars is circular incrosssection and passes loosely through the end bar B, supporting thesame, and through the wall of the stove to the outside, where its end issquared for reception of the usual shaker or crank handle employed forshaking or dumping the grate.

The end bar B has provided thereon immediately above the rock-bar a lug,K, projecting longitudinally toward the first grate bar, the under sideof which lug is fiat or plane and works over the cylindrical end portionof the rock-bar, when the latter is in its normal position, so as topermit a free rotation of said bar independent of the grate. When,however, the rock-bar is shifted longitudinally or axially in itsbearing toward the end bar B, the squared portion of the rock-bar willbe moved so as to underlie and bear against said lug, thereby preventinga rotation of the rockbar independent of the grate, and any rotation ofsaid bar when so adjusted will be communicated to the grate and causethe same to tilt to a corresponding degree.

In practice,when the rock-bar is oscillated it assumes the positionshown in-dotted lines, Fig. 3, the grate-bars at this time beingsupported upon the edge thereof; but instead of rising clear of the sidebars in the same rela tive position as when at rest-that is to say, in ahorizontal position-the weighted end of each grate-bar will be held downby reason of the excess of weight on that side of the center, while theopposite end will rise to a corresponding height, thus causing thegrate-bar to assume the inclined position shown by dotted lines in thesame figure; hence it will be seen that as the weighted ends of thelevers come on alternately-opposite sides of the center of the grate thegrate-bars will assume alternately-opposite inclined positions, causingthe ends thereof to project up into the cinders and effectually releasethe ashes there- I from, thereby precipitating them into the ashpit.

It will of course be understood that the weight of the coals in thefire-box serves to maintain the grate as a whole in its normalhorizontal position, the rock bar turning loosely on its bearingstherein, and therefore having no leverage upon the grate as a whole, butsimply upon thegrate-bars. When, however, it is desired to tilt or dumpthe grate as a whole, it is 'only necessary to draw the rockbar outlongitudinally that is to say, with an endwise movement until thesquared portion thereof lies under the lug K on the end bar Bwhen theoscillations of the rock-bar will be imparted to the grate as a whole,the rockbar at this time being prevented from any oscillation whateverindependent of the grate as a whole, and cannot therefore shake thegrate-bars until shoved back into its normal position.

During the dumping operation the stud J and the forward end of therock-bar constitute the pivot-bearing of the grate, being suitablyjournaled in the walls of the stove, as hereinbefore explained.

To avoid an unnecessary length of perforations in the side bars of thegrate otherwise necessary to permit the shaking or oscillating thegrate-bars, I bevel or chamfer out the end walls of said perforations,as shown in Fig. 3, beveling from the top of the perforation down wardlyat an angle corresponding to'the great est degree of inclination assumedby the lugs F of the grate-bars during their oscillation, so that theopenings at the top may be of just sufficient size to permit the passageof the lugs and still allow the free oscillation of the gratebars.

In a grate constructed as herein described accomplished, according tothe character of the fire box or furnace in which the grate is located,by means of the ro'ck-bar-upou which the grate-bars are dependent fortheir individual movements, for while the operation and manner ofdumping thegrate is the same in all cases, the part operating upon thegrate-bars may vary materially. For instance, if the rock bar, insteadof being plain on its side or elevating edges, is notched at every othergrate-bar on alternately-opposite sides, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, whenoscillated in one direction the grate-bars corresponding to thesenotches a a will not be afl'ected,while the bars corresponding to theprojection bb will be oscillated inthe usual manner; but when therock-bar is turned in the opposite direction the grate-barscorresponding to the notches a, which had previously stood still, willnow be oscillated by the projections 0, while the alternate bars will beundisturbed because of the notches d on that side correspondingtherewith. Thus every other grate-bar only may be operated by a singleoscillation of the rock-bar,and the alternate grate-bars operated by theoscillation of the rock-bar in the opposite direction; or therock-barmay be notched, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, in which case themost of the middle bars will be operated at one oscillation, whileseveral of the grate-bars at each end of the grate will besimultaneously operated by the oscillation of the rock-bar in theopposite direction.

Still another form of rock-bar is illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, inwhich the said bar, insteadof having the outlines of a parallelogram incrosssection, has substantiallya hexagonal outline, whereby all of thegrate-bars are opvarious movements of the grate-bars can be IOO IIO

erated simultaneously, the weighted ends thereof giving a sufficientlyirregular movement to said bars to insure the thorough sepas new, fornot only the grate-bars, but any other part of the grate, either end,side, or

rock bar, can be removedand a new corresponding part substituted, theseparts being all cast separately and readily attachable or detachable.

Although I find it to be'more economical and satisfactory to cast apivot for the grate upon the end bar 0, this pivot might be dispensedwith and the end of the rock-bar passed loosely through the said endbar" and projected into a socket in the wall of the fire-box, and thusprovide the necessary pivot. In conclusion I may state that in additionto the foregoing advantages the effective discharge of the ashes fromthe grate-bars is accomplished, and the bars so arranged that one ormore may be shaken independently ofsall the others and in oppositedirections, or any one of the grate-bars may be removed withoutdisturbing any of the others; and it will be observed that in'theoperation of shaking the grate, if desirable, the rock-bar may, insteadof being rocked or oscillated, be rotated in either direction, theresult being the same in both cases, the said bar being designated as arock-bar merely for convenience of description and clearness ofillustration.

Having described myinvention,whatIc1aim,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The grate-frame composed of side and end bars, said side bars beingprovided with a se-- ries'of perforations, in combination with a seriesof grate-bars having lugs-projecting into said perforations, wherebysaid grate-bars may be bodily elevated or have either end elevatedwithout disconnection from the frame or displacementrelative to eachother, and any grate- 'bar be removable from the frame without dis-iturbing the others, substantially as described.

2. A grate-frame, in combination with a series of removable gratebarsand a separate rock-bar underlying said grate-bars at their bars, theside bars being provided with a series a r of perforations, a seriesofgrate-bars supported by said frame, andlugs on said bars engaging theperforations in said side bars, in combina; tion with a rock-barunderlying and engaging said grate-barsv about the center of lengththereof, and weights secured to said grate-bars intermediate the centerand one end thereof,

substantially as-described.

' ABNER C. MORTON.

Witnesses: t

W. W. ELLIOTT, WILL R. OMOHUNDRO.

